Overtime kind only to the Reds, not the Greens
As if playing two games within three days was not enough, Olympiakos and Panathinaikos also played overtime in the week’s second game, with the Reds winning on Thursday and Panathinaikos losing on Friday, both at home.
Giannoulis Larentzakis led Olympiakos to a hard-fought home win over Partizan with a 98-94 score, with the Reds having a 2-2 record, both wins coming on overtime.
The Reds had a solid first half after which they advanced 49-43, but a poor third period saw Partizan enjoy a partial 26-10 to take a 10-point lead into the final quarter.
The Greek champion rallied to avoid another home loss and took the game to overtime (85-85), where it dominated to win by four in the end.
Larentzakis scored 19 points, followed by Nikola Milutinov (16) and Alec Peters (15).
Panathinaikos is on a 1-3 record as it lost 86-81 in overtime to Maccabi, in a game with exceptional security measures at the Olympic Sports Hall, as the safety of the Israeli team’s players took precedence.
Maccabi led for almost the entire game, stretching its lead up to 15 points (39-24 at half-time), but the Greens managed to fight back, take a slender lead (72-70) just before the end, and then let it slip (72-72), with the game going to overtime without Panathinaikos’ coach Ergin Ataman on the bench, due to technical fouls.
The visitors were the better team in overtime too, and managed to snatch a morale-boosting win for themselves and their fans, while Panathinaikos still has plenty of work to do to create a credible style in defense.
Luca Vildosa stood out among the Greens with 15 points, while Marius Grigonis added another 13. The return of Dinos Mitoglou (11 points, five rebounds) was good news for the Athens team.
